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[nostalgiabomb]

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[nostalgiabomb]

[ The beat of silence makes him think that maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, but the laugh makes him sigh, relieved. ]

Yeah, I've got a gift, I guess.

[ And he squeezes Charlie's arm gently. ]

I'm-- really sorry you had to go through that bullshit

[animated]

I spent a lot of time hating my circumstances, hating everything that had happened to me, but in the end I realized that I chose to leave because I couldn't stand to lie to myself. I needed to embrace everything- even the bullshit, because it's just as much a part of where I came from as the good stuff- and move forward.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you I forgive my family for any of the shit they pulled, but it's part of why I'm here, right now. It's part of why I pissed off whoever I pissed off and they dropped me on your head. It's part of why I had the power to save your life. If I had to go through all of that to get me to this moment, I'm okay with it.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He's quiet for a long moment, because-- there's a lot of shit he wishes he could change for him, but he knows he wouldn't change ever meeting him. ]

I-- I'm glad I met you, too. And-- thanks for the save.

[animated]

Any time, Peter. A million times. Whatever it takes.

But I'm serious- once all of this has blown over, you're taking me dancing.

[nostalgiabomb]

Man of my word, aren't I?

[animated]

Just making sure we're on the same page.

[nostalgiabomb]

You gotta heal up first, though. Sure you don't need anything?

[animated]

I don't think so.

... Do we know what happened to those other two whack-jobs that jumped us?

[nostalgiabomb]

Guys're still on the lookout for them.

[ He pauses, then-- ]

I made a shitty call. Should've called the others for back-up.

[animated]

Maybe. Maybe not. You had no way of knowing that they had backup in that alley.

[nostalgiabomb]

Still-- I just-- Sorry. [ the corner of his mouth twitches a little in a rueful smile. ] Some of those fuckers seriously hate us.

[animated]

Yeah, I kind of figured.

[ a beat ] You can't go three feet without finding news footage or articles of that whole incident on Xandar, so I figured out the whole "I hate purple" thing a while ago, too.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ WELP. That's making him pause again. ]

Didn't think you'd notice that shit.

[animated]

I research. That's what I do. The name "Ronan" might have come up once or twice with the others, so I decided to look it up.

[nostalgiabomb]

Why not just ask?

[animated]

In case you haven't noticed, you all aren't exactly the most forthcoming group of people around.

[nostalgiabomb]

... Yeah. Fair enough.

What footage did you see?

[animated]

Somebody in the crowd had a camera of some kind, so it was crappy at best, but it got the point across. Big ol' black cloud and flashy purple lights everywhere.

I can't imagine what it was like to be in that thing, but I'm sure it wasn't fun.

[nostalgiabomb]

Putting it mildly.

[ he still dreams about it, in fact; sometimes no one is there to share it's power and he's blown asunder. Sometimes he's just stuck there in agony, screaming and begging for the pain to end, but it never does. Other times the stone has a will of its own, uses Peter as a vessel to kill and destroy.

He hates that one the most. ]

... Anything you wanted to know?

[animated]

Nothing you're not willing to share.

[nostalgiabomb]

I've told the story enough. [ most of it. He skips the unimaginable pain part, most of the time. ]

'Sides. You probably wanna know about the stone, right? [ he offers a small smile ] Bein' a nerd and all.

[animated]

Excuse you, since when am I a nerd? [ since always, Charlie ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ guess who's got two thumbs and is giving Charlie the flattest of looks?

This guyyyyy. ]

[animated]

[ He just gives Peter a smirk ]

I can get the story later. We've got time, after all.

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah, alright.

[ he smiles again, a little more genuinely this time. ]

You need to rest anyway, nerd.